Various types of oil and/or gas well tools are used in which the body includes a plurality of metal sections threadably connected together to enclose the working parts of the tools. The threaded connections of the sections must be pressure tight. In the past the threaded connections included an integral metal seal for sealing the threaded connections. However, in assembling the well tool, various adjustments have to be made in the internal workings of the tool. This requires that the threaded sections of the well tool be repeatably unscrewed and rescrewed together until the working parts are suitably adjusted. However, metal threaded connections with integral seals have a propensity for galling, particularly when the metal is a corrosion-resistant alloy. And when the metal parts gall, they become defective and must be replaced which is expensive and time-consuming. While elastomer seals are satisfactory for initially holding a pressure seal, they have a short life in the harsh environment of temperatures and corrosive fluids encountered in a well.
The present invention is directed to a method and apparatus for making up and sealing threaded sections of a well tool with a metal seal for holding pressure in which the seals may be made up and broken out a multiple of times and in which the seal is held in a secure seal position after final makeup.